Meet the Bristol chef who travels the world

Robert Swann is a Bristol-born executive chef whose dedicated 60-strong team can serve up to 800 guests in a host of exotic holiday destinations and all from the same kitchen.

And that’s only possible because his work place is onboard Fred Olsen‘s classic 1970s built cruise ship MV Boudicca which with her famous sister MV Black Watch and younger siblings Balmoral and Braemar will from this year now cruise from five ports around the UK.

Robert moved to Weymouth when he was just four years old but returned to Bristol to live just a few streets away from his original home in Brislington ten years ago, having progressed in his catering career working in hotels and latterly on cruise ships.

His galley is operational around the clock with the bakers on duty throughout the night and the breakfast crew arriving around 4.30am.

Robert is in charge of 60 chefs onboard Boudicca

“I have a meeting with senior members of my team around 8am to discuss the order of the day and also regular updates with our provisions master, but everyone in the galley stops for a 20-minute coffee break around 10am,” said Robert.

“We receive a general menu matrix from head office but we like to refine it and change things around to suit the culinary profile of the guests we have onboard at the time.

“For example on one particular cruise we quickly discovered that an amazing 80 per cent of our guests showed a marked preference for dishes without salt and wanted very mild spices so we had to act accordingly.

“Besides that, we like to sit down with guests who have specific dietary requirements and work out personal menus for them.”

“We also operate a system whereby individual personnel are responsible for the preparation and cooking of separate components of a menu with, for example, one person preparing and making every dish using potatoes be they roasted, mashed, chipped, Duchess or Dauphinois.

“We also have individuals responsible for our soups, sauces, meats, fish, salads and desserts.”

Robert tastes all the dishes for quality and supervises his team through the preparation of breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and a late buffet.

But he also finds time to put in an appearance and talk to guests in the ship’s three restaurants and also out on deck where others are enjoying an a la carte dining experience.

“I have a really great team, some of whom have worked onboard this ship for a number of years,” he said.

“Everyone just gets on with all their tasks in hand and it gives me a real buzz if I can watch them progress through their careers and reward them with well deserved promotions to roles with more responsibility.”

Robert works two months on and one month off, and when he’s back home among family and friends in Bristol, he still likes to cook.